Chapter 2

The next day was Saturday. Leo voluntarily drove me to my mom's house.

He even bought two hundred dollars worth of fruit downstairs.

He handed it to me, striking a pose. "Aurora, say hello to our mom for me."

Three years of marriage, and he'd always called my mom "Ma'am." Today, he was playing the doting son-in-law.

Just as I was about to go upstairs, my phone rang.

[Ding! Detected host and partner jointly spent $200 to show filial piety to host's mother. According to the Principle of Absolute Fairness, this expense should be jointly borne by both parties. $100 has been automatically deducted from your account and transferred to Leo Sterling's account.]

I looked at the deduction message and fell silent.

Leo hadn't driven off yet, rolling down his window to wave. "Aurora, come back early to make dinner."

I nodded, turned, and went upstairs.

Absolute fairness. So fair, it was sarcastic.

When I got home that evening, Leo was lying on the couch, on a call.

"Mom, Dad, I transferred you ten thousand for living expenses."

"Let me know if you need more, don't hold back."

"Company's doing well, and Aurora's great too."

He hung up and glanced at me.

I waited a moment. The System remained silent.

I asked mentally: "He transferred ten thousand to his parents, why no reaction?"

[Responding to host: Supporting a partner's parents is a unilateral legal obligation and does not fall under joint consumption. Therefore, it is not factored into the AA System.]

I understood.

The System only cared about the money he spent on people other than me.

As for supporting his own parents, that was our joint marital duty.

How fair.

I went into the kitchen to make dinner. Leo followed, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

"Aurora, you worked hard today. Let's watch a movie tonight and relax."

I felt a little uncomfortable.

After the AA system started, intimacy had become rare.

After dinner, he skillfully logged into my paid streaming account.

I'd bought the annual membership during a sale.

He hadn't asked for the password, but he'd definitely tried my birthday.

He picked the latest pay-per-view movie, ten dollars. He clicked play without hesitation, paying with my account.

I watched the screen, expressionless.

Just as the movie started, my phone rang.

[Ding! Detected partner Leo Sterling misappropriated host's personal asset (video streaming membership) and incurred a $10 expense. This act of misappropriation constitutes malicious encroachment. Double compensation has been enforced, totaling $20. $20 has been transferred from Leo Sterling's account to your account.]

Almost simultaneously, Leo's phone received a deduction message.

His face instantly changed.

He sharply turned to me. "Did you mess with my money again?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it was full of accusation.

I looked at him calmly. "I didn't."

"Bullshit!" He slammed his phone onto the coffee table. "Why would my money mysteriously drop by twenty bucks?!"

"Yesterday it was twenty-five thousand, today it's twenty! Aurora, what's your game?"

He stood up, looking down at me. "We agreed on AA, no interfering with each other's money. What are you trying to do now?"

"Secretly trying to screw me over? Is this fun for you?"

Every word was like a needle.

I didn't speak. I silently opened my phone and showed him the System's transaction log.

Every single transaction, clear as day.

[September 15th: Spent $50,000 on Tiffany Vance, account balanced $25,000.]

[September 16th: Showed filial piety to mother-in-law, spent $200, account balanced $100.]

[September 16th: Misappropriated membership and spent $10, compensation $20.]

Leo's breathing hitched. He stared intently at the screen, his expression shifting from anger to shock, then to utter disbelief.

"What is this thing?"

"The Perfectly Fair Expense Splitter System," I replied, taking back my phone. "It automatically calculates all our financial transactions and enforces account balancing."

"You wanted pure emotion, didn't you? The System is helping you achieve that."

Leo was speechless. His facial muscles twitched, making him look utterly ridiculous.

His proud AA system was being perfectly executed by the System.

All his double standards and selfishness were quantified into numbers.

He couldn't argue. "Fairness" was his idea.

After a long moment, he irritably ran his fingers through his hair. "What fake system? I bet it's some trick you cooked up!"

He turned and stormed into his study, slamming the door shut.

In the living room, only I remained. The movie was still playing on the TV.

And my marriage to Leo had become a farce under data surveillance.

The director? Leo himself.

I picked up the phone he'd thrown on the coffee table. The screen was lit, showing his SnapChat chat with Tiffany.

The last message was from him: "Aurora's throwing another tantrum today, it's so annoying."

Below it, Tiffany's reply had just popped up: "Is Aurora misunderstanding something, big bro? Maybe I should explain it to her?"